


The Belonging You Seek

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death You’ll Be Happy To Read, Explicit Sexual Content between Darkpilot, First Time, Fix-It, For Luke, Kylo Ren Redemption, Leia Organa Lives, M/M, Minor Rose Tico/Jannah, Past Mind Rape, Planetary Destruction, Reconciliation, Redeemed Ben Solo, Virgin Ben Solo, Virgin Poe Dameron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:54:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27528790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: “For parents, there are few things that are unforgivable. Kids...kids are their kids forever, no matter how many territories they take over.”Leia survives trying to get through to Ben Solo.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10
Collections: The Darkpilot Library





	1. A Symbolic Gesture

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

“Hey, kid.”

It was on Kef Bir that for the first time in a year, Ben Solo heard his father’s voice. He stood up, turned to face Han Solo...the apparition of Han Solo, at least. 

”Is my mother...dead?” It struck him that this was the first time that he had called Leia his mother in so long. 

”No, kid. Kylo Ren is dead. My son, his mother...they’re alive.”

Ben thought, impulsively, of Poe. Of Rey. Of countless bodies he hadn’t learned the names of. "It’s too late.”

”I didn’t think it was too late on Starkiller Base and I don’t think that now.”

”Why?” Ben’s voice cracked as he spoke. “Why me, of all people?"

Han’s face softened. “You’re my son. Does it need saying? The moment I saw you, I knew I loved you more than I could ever love myself. That I’d do anything to protect you. Even you, killing me — it only hurt that Snoke won, just for a while.”

"There’s things that are unforgivable.”

”For parents, there are few things that are unforgivable. Kids...kids are their kids forever, no matter how many territories they take over.” A beat. “Your mother’s waiting for you. Go to her. Make her sacrifice matter, at least.”

Ben considered it. It made sense, in the end. His mother...she only wanted to see him. To have him back. Even if she hated him, even if Poe hated him, he had to at least make it up to them all. Before he died — inside or in battle.

”Dad...” he began. 

Han smiled — a smile that made Ben feel warmer than he had any right to feel. “I know.”

A touch to Ben’s cheek, so much like Starkiller Base, and Han was gone. Maybe he wasn’t real. Maybe it was something Ben had cooked up just to get some sort of closure. Was there an afterlife, for Dad? Anything?

He knew he had to get off the Death Star ruins, at least. But first...

He figured, as he hurled his lightsaber into the oceans of Kef Bir, that a symbolic gesture was a good place to start. 

***

It was taking the skimmer back to Kef Bir, back to its main shores, that Ben was confronted by the sight of FN-2187 pointing a blaster in his face. A blaster, and Ben couldn’t help but suppress a sigh. Then again, no one said that the road to redemption was going to be easy. No one said that it was going to be flawless. 

No one said anything like that. It seemed, Ben thought, that the road to redemption started with him staring down the barrel of a loaded blaster. 

”I wouldn’t step any closer if I were you,” FN-2187 said. It wasn’t a threat as much as a warning. Ben could still feel the barely suppressed resentment there, after everything that Ben had done as Kylo Ren. 

Ben supposed that it was fair. 

”Is...General Organa all right?” he said. 

FN-2187 sighed. “What do you mean, ‘is General Organa all right’?”

”Is that Kylo Ren?" The woman with copper brown skin spoke up just then; there was something in her posh accent that reminded Ben almost of Rey. “Huh. So I guess he doesn’t have three heads or horns like some of the rumors said.”

”Um, no, he doesn’t.” Poe, this time. “He really doesn’t.” Poe stepped forward, put a hand on FN-2187’s shoulder. Somehow, Ben felt a pang of loss, just knowing that he had lost that right. In a way. 

”What happened to Leia?" Poe said, evenly. Ben didn’t miss the undercurrent of panic that was threatening to break through to the surface. 

”She...” Ben thought about it now. Thought about how she had reached out to him. One word, one name. _Ben_. And there was that feeling — she wasn’t dead. Ben knew that. Unconscious, maybe. He would know if she died...just like his father. 

A death that was for nothing. 

”What happened to her, Ben?” Poe said. 

”She’s not dead,” Ben said. “But she reached out to me. She...it was that that made me come back. I didn’t realize anyone wanted to come back for me...”

He didn’t miss the way FN-2187 and the woman with him looked almost uncomfortable, shifting side to side as they looked at him. Poe...Ben didn’t miss how wide his eyes were.

”We’ll have to head back to base,” Poe said. “Ben...you’ll have to stay in the brig. We just can’t take any chances.”

 _He resents me_ , Ben thought. _He still hates me for what I did to him. He doesn’t know — and would it make a difference if he did know —_

Ben nodded. He supposed, in the end, that was what he deserved. 

***

The woman with FN-2187 was the first one to visit him in the brig, crouching down to Ben’s level. “Are you okay?”

”Never better,” Ben said wryly. 

”Never fancied Kylo Ren to be a bit of a snarker.”

”I don’t know if I can be him anymore.”

The woman nodded. “I’m Jannah,” she said. 

Ben paused. The pause seemed to go on too long. “...Ben,” he said. 

”Didn’t think your parents were Obi-Wan fans.”

”You’d be surprised,” Ben said.

Jannah did laugh. Ben didn’t know the last time he’d made someone laugh. Then, more seriously, “How’d you...decide to join us?”

”I realized that there were people who actually wanted me to come back,” Ben said. “It was something I didn’t expect.”

Jannah frowned. “Is that it? Why you fell? You thought there was no one there for you?”

”My...uncle was a schutta," Ben said. “I think we can leave it at that.”

And there was so much more. Ben thought, impulsively, of Poe. Of the dreams that he’d had, about a figure in black hurting Poe. To think that Snoke had forced that prophecy into being self-fulfilling. To think, to think. He’d been such a fool. 

So very weak. 

Jannah was called up to the cockpit just then, and Ben decided, at least in terms of talking to her, what he’d seen of her, that Jannah was not that bad. It seemed, at least, that if he was beginning his path of redemption as a prisoner, he might as well have a friend with him. 


	2. Immolation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kijimi is destroyed, and Ben speaks with his unconscious mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Trigger warning for planetary destruction.

_— an explosion, like a million voices cried out in terror before they were immolated —_

Ben woke, and he could practically hear Kijimi screaming in his ears. Screaming, practically howling in a voice of its own, a bereaved sort of screaming. That had been what Hosnia Prime had felt like, when it had blown up. Screaming — and a gaping, open wound that did not heal but festered and bled. 

Kijimi. 

Palpatine had blown up Kijimi, no doubt as a punishment to...someone. For...something. Probably to prove that he could, actually. 

Probably to show them...something. 

It was one of those moments where Poe was outside the brig, approaching him like a wounded animal caught in a trap. “It’s okay, Ben,” he said, softly. “I’m here.”

Ben knew he didn’t deserve this, but here he was. “It’s Kijimi,” he said. "It’s just...gone. I don’t know what Palpatine got his hands on this time, but — it’s gone.”

Poe swore. Slammed his fist against the bulkhead. Ben could imagine how much it hurt. 

”Zorii,” Poe said. “She’s dead. Kriffing dead and I couldn’t save her...”

”It’s not your fault,” Ben said, softly. 

”You don’t get it! Everything’s my fault. Ever since D’Qar. Ever since...Paige...” Poe ran a hand, agitatedly, through his hair. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. I killed Paige. I killed Holdo. Everything I even remotely care about dies...”

”Because you love everyone. And everyone dies.” Ben said, softly. It was odd. With Rey, he hadn’t known what to call it. Maybe it was a case of him half-wanting to get what he wanted (her loyalty) and half-feeling her pain become his. But with Poe...Poe’s pain did become his. It hurt as much as Rey stabbing him had earlier. 

”That’s...not much of a comfort. You didn’t hear about Paige, did you? I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but...” A shaky breath from Poe. “I can’t do this. Leia’s in medbay and Zorii’s dead, a whole population’s dead...”

”Because you feel,” Ben said. “Because you’re a good person. Because you care so much that you’d bleed with the pain of it."

Poe looked down. “I suppose. Don’t leave, Ben.”

”I don’t have much of a choice.” But Ben was only half-joking. 

Poe did actually laugh. Feebly, but it was there. Ben watched him, the creases at his eyes, the flash of white teeth. And it struck him how much he had missed Poe’s laugh. 

”I’m here,” Ben said. “And I’m sorry. For everything.” A beat. “Snoke...made me. You were probably wondering why I took so long in interrogating you. I held off as long as I could. But he...” He forced himself to continue; he had no right being upset when Poe had suffered worse. “He had a Force Bond with me. Ever since I was a child. And there are ways you can abuse a Force Bond, and he did that while I was interrogating you...” 

Ben’s breathing was coming in heavy. He couldn’t breathe, remembering the psychic electric shocks coming over his bond with Snoke. 

”Ben...” Poe said softly. 

”I have no right,” Ben said. “I wasn’t strong — I could have resisted. Taken the pain for you...”

”Ben, no. You were tortured too, in your own way." Silence. "It’s like — you know the term ‘proxy rape'? It sounds like proxy torture to me.”

”Maybe.” Ben wasn’t sure he believed it. 

”Ben. Honestly, you telling me this...I needed to hear this. I needed to see you again, to have some sort of closure. You coming back...” Poe smiled faintly. “It’s the first sign of things going right for me.”

Ben knew he didn’t deserve Poe. But here he was. 

***

Even as they landed on Ajan Kloss, got out, it was FN-2187 who said, “Where’s Rey?”

”She ran.” Ben could feel her anguish, her agony, all but coursing over the Bond. He shouldn’t have told her she was a Palpatine, he thought. He should have let her believe she was the daughter of two nobodies. It would have hurt her less. 

It would have kept her from feeling she had to run. 

"Stang it,” Poe muttered. “Always running away when we need her. Doesn’t give a damn about anybody but herself...”

"It’s my fault,” Ben said. “I told her she was a Palpatine.”

Jannah looked like she’d been hit by a skimmer. So did Poe. Only FN-2187 didn’t look surprised. 

”She’s afraid she’ll fall,” Ben said. “Which is ridiculous. This is a woman who's stood true no matter what. I wish I’d given her more credit...and I’m so sorry that I didn’t.”

"Wow, Ren,” FN-2187 said, “Didn’t think you had it in you.”

”Guess I proved you wrong,” Ben said.

***

They had to take the Falcon to Ach-To. Even as Rose, the sweet, dark-haired mechanic, chattered eagerly with Jannah, calling her a Resistance hero and whatnot (and Ben didn’t miss Jannah’s shy, self-deprecating smiles), Poe turned to Ben. “R2 had a map to Luke. So did BB-8.”

”Yes, I’m aware of it,” Ben said wryly. “I remember chasing after it for, what, six years?"

Poe did laugh. “I remember." Then, “I know the Falcon’s navicomputer still has it logged in. Assuming your weird Bond thing’s right and she is on Ach-To.”

”It’s called a dyad.”

Poe sighed. “Whatever. I don’t like it being there. You and Rey...you didn’t deserve having your consent breached like that.”

”I don’t know,” Ben said. “I mean, Snoke could have lied. When I was on Crait, I saw the Bond open again. And it opened again now. It shouldn’t work now that Snoke’s dead.” A beat. “The dyad’s typically associated with the Sith. It was that that made them create the Rule of Two. Well, that and Darth Bane being crazy. But the Sith believed that there was something holy about it, among other things. One to embody power, the other to crave it. So...perhaps if the Light Side has a will, so does the Dark?”

The silence between them was visibly uncomfortable. Ben knew that Poe was scared at the very thought of the Dark Side having a will. 

”Well...speaking of the Dark Side having a will,” Poe said, “We better get about to thwarting it, right?”

”Yeah.”

***

They visited Leia first. Poe left Kaydel Ko Connix in charge while he was gone, but Poe and Ben thought they had better say goodbye to Leia first. 

”You were right about me,” Ben said. “About everything. I was just too blind to see it. Too mired in my own self-loathing. And I was...stupid. It was you who guided me back. You, believing in me. All of it. You weren’t stupid for believing in me. And...I forgive you. All your imperfections. Everything.”

No reply. Ben could feel Poe’s hand squeezing his shoulder, tightly. 

It felt warmer than it had any right to. Warmer than Ben deserved. 

“Come on, Ben,” Poe said. Gently. “Let’s find Rey. Save the galaxy. Save ourselves.”

They left then, towards the Falcon, towards their destinies. 


	3. Shadows Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group picks up Rey from Ach-To.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Warnings for mind rape in regards to Luke’s story. It’s not...explicit, but there’s an element of Does This Remind You Of Anything in there.

They found Rey. A flaming TIE fighter, and somehow, Luke’s Force Ghost. Even as Ben stopped in his tracks, he thought back to Crait. The anger, the betrayal, the hurt...

”Oh, the Force must really hate me,” Ben snapped. “It’s you.”

Luke didn’t look like he did at Crait. Apparently, he’d decided to copy Obi-Wan’s fashion sense, but he also looked tired. Sad. Maybe he was just sorry he was being judged in the netherworld of the Force. Who knew?

”We need to talk, Ben,” Luke said. 

***

”Ben, about what I did...”

“I think we _passed_ sorry,” Ben snapped. 

It was inside the hut on Ach-To (apparently, that was what it was called. Ben didn’t know why the site of the First Jedi Temple seemed to have a name that sounded like a sneeze, but there it was), that Luke tried to explain. 

”Ben, what is he talking about?” Poe said. 

Luke took a deep breath. “This...may cause you to lose sympathy for me.”

”Great,” Poe muttered. 

Luke began. “It was the night that three of my apprentices were off on a mission. Ben...I don’t know how I can describe it, but it was a lot like my body wasn’t my own."

”Now that I think about it,” Ben said, "You didn’t really look yourself when you were...standing over my bed with your lightsaber ignited. It was like something had taken control of you...”

”What?!” Poe exclaimed. 

Luke huffed. Ben supposed it was the Force Ghost version of a sigh. "It wasn’t even that. I resisted at the last minute, but forgot to turn off my lightsaber...”

Silence. Ben couldn’t help but feel like he’d been shot with Chewie’s bowcaster once again. 

”You mean, you decided not to kill me?" Ben said. 

”At the last minute, I resisted,” Luke said. “But I could have been stronger. It was one of the reasons I didn’t tell Rey the full truth. It’s...humiliating to be used like that. It...Force, I wouldn’t compare it to a rape; it devalues survivors — ”

“You were violated,” Ben said. “I don’t know if it was Snoke or someone...but you didn’t deserve it. And you were strong. You defied your attacker. Took control. If it wasn’t for one thing you forgot, if it wasn’t for me waking up at the worst time...but even that doesn’t rule out the fact you won.”

Luke looked like his body was succumbing to exhaustion. A different exhaustion. An emotional exhaustion. “I did. I suppose. And you did well too, Ben. You did the right thing, going back.” Silence. "I just don’t know why Rey’s on Ach-To. It isn’t like her.”

”I saw myself on the dark throne." Rey said. 

Ben nodded. Finn reached out, hesitantly, towards her.

”Finn told us,” Poe said. “Not gonna lie, Rey, you are irritating. Like...itching powder in an envirosuit.”

Rey grimaced. “Poe, just stop.”

”I’m not finished yet,” Poe said. “What I’m saying is that you’re not him. You never could be. You’re a good person. Who defended Finn on Ilum? Who saved my droid? Who tried to save Ben when no one else but Han did? Who’s saved us, time and time again? Someone who was like Palpatine...she wouldn’t do that. You’ve redeemed Palpatine’s sins, so many times over.”

Finn spoke up. “You saved my life. Our lives. You’re not the Emperor. Not even a little. And you won’t fall to the Emperor. I know you. I believe in you. I love you."

Rey stared at Finn. “You...love me?”

"Does it need to be said? I should have told you earlier, but — ”

Rey cut him off by kissing him. Ben couldn’t help but smile, looking to Poe, who was grinning, Jannah and Rose, who just looked happy Finn had found someone — even if it could be ended in an instant. 

Luke smiled as well. "It’s a powerful argument against no attachments,” he said. "You don’t underestimate someone who loves you and believes in you.”

Rey broke away from Finn, playfully rolling her eyes. “Making jabs at the Jedi again, are we?"

Luke shrugged. “I call them as I see them. But yes, Rey. There are things stronger than blood. I was Vader’s son — Leia was Vader’s daughter. But blood didn’t define either one of us.”

Rose spoke up. “I don’t see a future Sith Empress standing there. I see the woman who saved us all.”

Jannah nodded. “I don’t know her well,” she said. “But Finn told me enough about her. The question, Rey, isn’t who your grandfather is, who your parents are — it’s who you are.”

Rey took a deep breath. “I’m Rey,” she said. “And I’m going to finish what Anakin Skywalker started."

Ben beamed. “There you go, Dyad-mate,” he said. “There you go.”

***

It was there, at Ach-To, that Luke handed Ben his mother’s lightsaber. “It just seems fitting," he said. "All too fitting. You’re taking this to Exegol as a bit of a...replacement.” A beat. “By the way, Ben...what happened to your old one?"

”I threw it away,” Ben said. 

Luke huffed. “Sometimes, Ben, I swear you are the reason there needs to be painkillers invented for Force Ghosts.”

Ben actually did laugh. “Maybe.”

Luke did smile then. It had been too long since he’d actually done that. "May the Force be with you, Ben.”

Ben smiled back. “And you.”

He watched even as Luke faded away. 

***

Thanks to the Wayfinder that Rey had managed to salvage from the ruins of Kylo Ren’s TIE fighter, they managed to set in the coordinates to Exegol. Chewie sent the coordinates to the rest of the Resistance, and Ben spoke to Rey. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “I feel it too. We all do."

Rey said nothing. Just a raised eyebrow, and a small nod. 

***

It was Poe who took him aside. “Ben,” he said. “I didn’t tell you this, but I was looking for you along with the map on Jakku."

”You...were?” Ben said softly. 

Poe nodded. "I always was. I was always looking for you. And then you were...forced to torture me.”

A beat. 

”I can’t hate you,” Poe said. “No matter how much I want to. No matter how much it hurts. And it hurts because...I love you. Because I’m not about to let you go off to face the Emperor without saying it. Without telling you. I know there’s so much good in you.”

There was a moment, just a moment, when Ben paused. When his breathing hitched and his heart beat faster. 

"I...” _I don’t deserve this. Don’t deserve you_. “I love you too,” Ben said. “I love you so much.”

”You’re not afraid to love anymore?”

”With you, I feel I can do anything.”

Poe did kiss him, hard, feeling, like they were going to die at Exegol — and maybe they were going to die, all of them, maybe the Emperor would win, and they had to kiss like they’d die the moment they got to Exegol.

So Ben kissed him back. Just as hard, as feeling, as they tumbled to the bed, removing clothes. Ben wondered, idly, what Poe would think of his body — it had acquired scars, injuries, but Poe looked at him like it was the most beautiful thing that he’d ever seen. 

”Stars, Ben, you’re beautiful,” Poe said. Then, “I don’t know what to do. Do I — ”

“Just improvise,” Ben breathed, and he found himself moaning under Poe’s lips and fingers finding each sensitive place. He murmured encouragement, even as their pelvises ground together, their shafts grinding together in a way that made Ben temporarily forget words.

When they both came, one first, then the other, Ben couldn’t help but feel stupidly happy. He was sticky, yes, sweaty, tired, but holding Poe...he doubted he had ever felt more at peace. 

"So...sex feels good. We should do it again,” Ben tried to joke. 

”There’ll be an ‘again’," Poe said. “I know it."

And even lying with Poe, Poe spoke with such conviction that Ben believed it. 


	4. Exegol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Leia woke. Of course she did. She could hear Luke in her head, telling her that she needed to rise. And of course the Resistance was all but rejoicing that she was awake. She was painfully aware that she was the adhesive that held them together — and sometimes it was too much for her. 

Her son needed her. 

”He went to Exegol, didn’t he?” Leia said to Maz. 

”He did,” Maz said. “I see your eyes — you’re ready to go to battle. To avenge your son.”

”Yes.” And somehow, Leia was okay with it. To keep Ben safe, she would do anything. 

She gave her speech. She watched the others as they watched her, clearly anxious, but ready to go into battle. “...we don’t do this out of hate,” Leia said. “Never hate. We do this for the sake of all life, so that what the Sith, the Empire, the First Order, the Final Order — everything about what they’ve done and plan to do never, ever happens again!” A beat. “Are you ready to go to Exegol?”

There was a resounding “aye” from the Resistance. And Leia — for them, she’d damn Exegol to cinders if it meant that the Resistance, people like her children, were safe. 

***

The Falcon landed on Exegol just then, and Ben could not help but feel afraid, could not help but feel the chill of the landscape all but creep up his spine as he stepped out with the others. Poe placed a hand on Ben’s arm, just then. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’ve got you. I’m right behind you. If you need me to fire a blaster bolt into Palpatine’s skull, I’ll do it."

Ben turned to him. Smiled, faintly. Finn was telling Rey the same thing, and Rose and Jannah...they seemed to at least be relying on each other for comfort. 

Ben couldn’t say he blamed them. 

***

The glowing tubes. The hooded figures. And in the throne room, Palpatine himself. 

"Well done,” Palpatine said. “You brought me exactly the girl I wanted.”

”Rey?”

”You could say it was always her I wanted," Palpatine said. “Not you, Ben.”

It shouldn’t have hurt, but somehow, it did. “What?”

”Oh, young Solo — I assure you that you never had any place in this story,” Palpatine said. “You were an experiment. A dalliance. Perhaps Snoke thought you could fulfill some bizarre version of balance for him, but you were always an insignificant part of this in general. You were fascinating...but unimportant.”

Ben couldn’t help but feel like he had been stabbed again. “So...you wasted so many years of my life, raped my uncle’s mind...just because of a _dalliance_?”

“Does a scientist fret about his lab rats?”

Ben could all but feel Poe’s hand reaching for his blaster. 

”The real target,” Palpatine said, “Was my granddaughter. That mighty Sith blood...it could allow me to reclaim my power.”

Rey was perfectly calm considering the circumstances. “I would never be Empress of the Sith,” she said. 

”It is unavoidable," Palpatine said. “It is your destiny.”

Rey — it was easy for her, Ben thought, just to resist. She was resisting wonderfully. 

”You’re wasting your time,” Ben said. “She didn’t join me on Ilum or the Supremacy. She won’t be swayed by some posturing, pale imitation of a dead megalomaniac telling her it’s her destiny.”

Rey did smile at him. Ben was grateful for that. 

“Pale imitation?" Palpatine said. “I will show you how much I am not.”

Ben didn’t miss how weak he suddenly felt as Palpatine seemed to just reach through the Force and pull. 

”I knew about the Dyad,” Palpatine said. "I anticipated it. You could say I exploited it, for when I would return..."

Ben watched, horrified, even as Palpatine transformed — all into a semblance of the man he was before Vader had hurled him into a pit on the second Death Star. 

"I am no imitation,” Palpatine said. “I accomplished what Darth Plagueis never could; I defied the laws of life and death. And after that, who knows what else I could do? Burn down the stars? Destroy a sun? I can do _anything_.”

He lifted his hands then, and sent Force Lightning, crackling, scintillating blue, through his fingers towards the Resistance fleet. 

***

Leia didn’t miss the way that the lives in the Force all but winked out — they weren’t quick, either. She felt their agony, their panic. Snap Wexley, fearing how he would tell Kare Kun he loved her. 

Leia steeled herself. She hated feeling people die; it was one of those things that had, shamefully, made her lash out at Poe. Every soldier who died, violently, horribly — she grieved for them. Always, always them. But even in the chaos of the bridge of her ship, with people demanding to know what to do now (“We’re falling, General!”), she stood tall. Firm. 

”Can we do a maneuver?” she said. “Steer us away from Palpatine’s attacks, high enough so we can still engage his fleet?”

Over the comm system, the pilot said, “We can try, General.”

Leia knew that below, her wonderful boy was dueling the Emperor with Rey, Poe, Finn, Rose and Jannah. They would win. All their decisions, all their hopes, had led them to this point. 

And she knew that there were ships coming out of hyperspace to engage the Final Order’s forces. Stopping the laser blasts. She gave her orders, and she could only imagine the late Amilyn Holdo with her. _Stand your ground. You taught me to._

***

"You think the five of you can beat me?” Palpatine sneered. "A pitiful band of Rebels are no match for me. I am all the Sith!”

It was then that Ben felt something. A stirring in the Force. “Grandfather?” he murmured. “What kept you so long?”

 _Sorry I’m late,_ Anakin said. _Just...hold firm_. 

And that was when Ben heard the voices. The voices of all the Jedi. He didn’t know if Rey had summoned them, or anything, but they were there. 

_Hold firm. Hold firm_. 

Ben didn’t miss how Palpatine looked — that brief look of panic. Then, “Then you all will die. In terrible pain.”

Ben shouted at Poe and Jannah to jump out of the way. Rey did the same for Finn and Rose. 

Repelling Palpatine’s Force Lightning was hard. There seemed to be all but an onslaught of it, shooting at them, at the ghosts, who repelled it with their lightsabers held high.

Ben watched, almost horrified, as Palpatine crumbled. He didn’t even seem to go out the way any other sentient being would. It was like watching a statue crumbling. 

And then he was nothing but rubble. He was gone. 

Ben stood, feeling shaky, unsteady. Anakin was still there, on Exegol, blue and shimmering. 

_Your story’s not over yet, grandson_ , Anakin said. _Hold firm_. 

And Anakin gave. After a while, Ben swore he felt steady again. He could stand. Rey too. 

They both ran to their friends — to their lovers. Rey hugged Finn, Ben hugged Poe. And now...now they were more than ready to get out of there. 

***

It was on the Falcon safely away from Exegol that Rey went into one of the crew quarters to talk with Finn. Ben could faintly hear words like “grandfather” and "why did it have to be him”. Poor Rey. She did deserve a better family than what she had. 

”I don’t know what to do with myself now that Palpatine’s gone,” Ben said. 

”You could come with me,” Poe said. “Your mother would want me to be the Republic’s new leader, but...I don’t think I’m cut out for it. We could...well, we could go back to Yavin. Form a new life there. You could...marry me, if you wanted to."

It was for the first time that Ben saw the ring dangling around Poe’s neck. Shara Bey’s ring. 

"It would be perfect,” he said. “That life. Everything. Of course, we’d have to get a mortgage...”

Poe did laugh. “You could live in my house,” he said. 

”Your house. With you. Without Palpatine in my head.” Ben smiled. “I can do that.”

They hugged then, and Ben took in Poe’s smell...the smell of Exegol, but also of Yavin, of home. 

***

Even stepping off the Falcon once again, at Ajan Kloss, Ben couldn’t help but be afraid, just for a moment. Even facing Palpatine wouldn’t be as scary as facing his conscious mother. 

Leia was there, dressed in finery, beautiful and dignified. And Ben was keenly aware of just how much he’d taken from her. 

”Mom,” he said, stepping towards her, “I...I really kriffed up. I — ”

In the end, there were no need for words as Leia pulled Ben into an embrace that was almost rib-crushing. 


	5. A Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story wraps up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

They still had work to do. Ben knew that. There were still First Order outposts out there, needing to be taken down. Outposts that he had set up. And there was also rebuilding the Jedi Order. The Republic. Truthfully, Ben didn’t know if it would work, rebuilding the Jedi Order. They’d have to work hard, all too hard, in order to actually get it together. 

To prevent the mistakes of the past. 

”I’ll help you, Ben," Rey had said to him, and as she looked at him, smiling — technically his cousin according to blood tests and records that Leia had dug up — Ben felt, finally, like he had found the belonging he sought. Even if it had taken a while. “We all will." A beat. “We both thought we were alone, but we’ve got the biggest family in the galaxy!”

Rey was right. All too right. And Ben — he adored her, if only for that. Adored everyone surrounding him; they still had no idea how much they meant the galaxy to him, did they?

***

”I can’t believe we beat him,” Poe said, in the privacy of their quarters. “That he really is gone for good.”

”I know.” Ben reached out, brushed his hand along Poe’s shoulder. “It’ll be odd, him not being there. In a way...he tricked me enough into thinking he was a friend. He disguised himself well enough.”

”Exactly,” Poe said. “He’s not the only friend you’ve got, though. You’ve got us.” Silence. “Would you marry me, if I asked you?"

Ben traced the ring hanging around Poe’s neck. Shara Bey’s ring. In that ring...there was the promise of a better future. Of everything. 

”If you asked me," Ben said. “I’d say yes.”

There was still a lot of work to do, but a future with Poe on Yavin IV...Ben couldn’t refuse that. 


End file.
